Reference is made to N. S. Ramaswamy in “Management of animal energy resources in India”, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, 1979, pp. 56-62 wherein bio-energy from animals is described as the principal source of motive power in Indian farming. Animal drawn ploughs and vehicles have been part of the rural scenario in India and other countries for several years. Agriculture practices in countries such as India fundamentally differ from those of western countries, mainly because Indian agriculture is based on animal power. For example, in India, animals contribute over 28 million hp of energy per day for agriculture operations. Off the total-working animals in India roughly 87% are working bullocks, 9% male buffaloes, 3% cows and 1% she-buffaloes. Work-animals are principally used for ploughing and then for drawing carts. The majority of an estimated 15 million animal drawn vehicles in India are powered by bullocks and the remaining by others. The aggregate investment in the system (including the cost of animals) is of the order of Rs.300000 million.
On the basis of selected sample surveys conducted in India, over 60% of the transportation needs of agriculture sector appears to be met by bullock carts, including 90% of all intra-village goods transport. On an average, one pair of draft animals is being utilized for 4 hectares of cropped area with a range from 1.8 hectares to 10.2 hectares in different states.
Policy makers, planners or professionals in India have not adequately recognized the magnitudes of animal energy available for exploitation and its potential for development. Many attempts are however, being made to assess the energy output of work animals, which is dependent on breed, size, weight and nutrition levels. The draft capacity of a work-animal varies from 0.4 to 1 hp. For purposes of calculation of energy availability, a low average of 0.5 hp is assumed, based on animal exerting about 50 kg of draft and walking at the rate of two miles per hour over a sustained period of time. On this basis, the energy made available by 80 million work-animals in India may be around 40 million hp. This is equivalent to 30000 megawatts of electrical power. Animal power would cost about Rs.10000 crores only, whereas to produce the same power in electrical energy, an investment of Rs.30000 crores is required. Thus, when animal energy is abundantly available at about a third of the cost of electrical energy and cheaper even than petroleum energy, it will be wise to utilize the animal energy for other applications in India or abroad. Work-animals are principally used for ploughing and next for drawing carts whereas the present invention utilizes work-animals for desalination of brackish water and making it safe for drinking. The present invention will benefit villages to utilize their own resources.
Reference is also made to Mick Hamer in a paper entitled “Horse power beats diesel”, New Scientist, 13 Jul. 2002, pp. 11, wherein a study carried out by Torbjorn Rydberg and Jan Jansen of the Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences at Uppsala found that a tractor tilling a field burns fuel containing about 67% more energy than a horse would have to eat to do the same job. Similarly animal power driven mechanical device for water desalination will require less energy than an electric or diesel power driven water desalination system.
References is made to B. G. Keefer, R. D. Hembree and F. C. Schrack in a paper entitled “Optimized matching of solar photovoltaic power with reverse osmosis (RO) desalination”, Desalination, 54(1985), pp-89-103, wherein solar photovoltaic powered RO desalination system are considered attractive for many remote locations, where the need for desalted water often coincides with the absence of conventional power resources. Potential application sites are islands, isolated settlements on arid coasts and inland brackish water wells. Conventional desalination systems are both energy-intensive and capital-intensive whereas solar photovoltaic powered RO desalination is relatively high-energy efficiency system with inherent simplicity.
While reservations may exist about solar photovoltaic powered RO desalination system because of its highly capital-intensive whereas animal powered RO desalination system is less capital-intensive. RO desalination process uses semi-permeable membranes bundled in cylindrical shape called module operate under cross-flow conditions. Under pressure there are two flows: permeate with reduced ion concentration crossing through the membrane and concentrate with high level of ion concentration. The required pressure and energy/power depend on the given ion concentration of the raw water and the anticipated flow of permeate. There is a broad variety of RO membranes module such as spiral wound, hollow fine fiber, tubular and plate and frame type available commercially. RO membranes module is basically categorized into low-pressure module and high-pressure module.
Low pressure RO membranes module is used to produce potable water from brackish water, with a total dissolved solids (TDS) concentration of <10,000 mg/L. High pressure RO membranes module is used for the production of drinking water, if the TDS concentration exceeds 10,000 mg/L value. The limit of the TDS concentration in drinking water is 500 mg/L as set by the World Health Organization.
Prior art literature survey and patent search do not reveal animal powered mechanical device for water desalination.